The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict
that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1
April 1992 and 14 December 1995. After popular
pressure, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) had decided to intervene in the Bosnian War
after allegations of war crimes against civilians
were made by various media organizations. In
response to the refugee and humanitarian crisis in
Bosnia, the United Nations Security Council passed
Resolution 743 in 21 February 1992, creating the
United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). The
UNPROFOR mandate was to keep the population alive
and deliver humanitarian aid to refugees in Bosnia
until the war ended.

On
9 October 1992, the United Nations Security Council
passed Resolution 781, prohibiting unauthorized
military flights in Bosnian airspace. This
resolution led to Operation Sky Monitor, where NATO
monitored violations of the no-fly zone, but it did
not take action against violators of the resolution.
On 31 March 1993, in response to 500 documented
violations, the United Nations Security Council
passed Resolution 816 which authorized states to use
measures "to ensure compliance" with the no-fly zone
over Bosnia. In response, on 12 April 1993, NATO
initiated Operation Deny Flight which was tasked
with enforcing the no-fly zone and allowed to engage
the violators of the no-fly zone. However, Serb
forces on the ground continued to attack UN "safe
areas" in Bosnia and the UN peacekeepers were unable
to fight back as the mandate did not give them
authority to do so. In response, on 4 June 1993, the
United Nations Security Council passed Resolution
836 authorized the use of force by UNPROFOR in the
protection of specially designated safe zones. On 15
June 1993, Operation Sharp Guard, a naval blockade
in the Adriatic Sea by NATO and the Western European
Union, began after being approved at a joint session
of NATO and the WEU on 8 June.

On 6 February 1994, a day after the first Markale
marketplace massacre, UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali formally requested NATO to confirm
that air strikes would be carried out immediately.
On 9 February 1994, agreeing to the request of the
UN, NATO authorized the Commander of Allied Forces
Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH), U.S. Admiral Jeremy
Boorda, to launch air strikes against artillery and
mortar positions in and around Sarajevo that were
determined by UNPROFOR to be responsible for attacks
against civilian targets. Only Greece failed to
support the use of airstrikes, but it did not veto
the proposal. The Council also issued an ultimatum
at the 9 February meeting to the Bosnian Serbs, in
which they demanded that the Serbs remove their
heavy weapons around Sarajevo by midnight of 20–21
February or face air strikes. There was some
confusion surrounding compliance with the ultimatum,
and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Boross announced
that Hungarian air space would be closed to NATO
aircraft in the event of airstrikes. On 12 February
1994, Sarajevo enjoyed its first casualty-free day
in 22 months (since April 1992).

On 28 February 1994, the scope of NATO involvement
in Bosnia increased dramatically. In an incident
near Banja Luka, NATO fighters operating under Deny
Flight shot down four Bosnian Serb fighters for
violating a no-fly zone. This was the first combat
operation in the history of NATO and opened the door
for a steadily growing NATO role in Bosnia.

On 12 March 1994, the United Nations Protection
Force (UNPROFOR) made its first request for NATO air
support, but close air support was not deployed,
however, owing to a number of delays associated with
the approval process. On 10 and 11 April 1994,
UNPROFOR called in air strikes to protect the
Goražde safe area, resulting in the bombing of a
Bosnian Serb military command outpost near Goražde
by two U.S. F-16 jets. This was the first time in
NATO's history it had ever done so. Subsequently,
the Bosnian-Serbs took 150 UN personnel hostage on
14 April. On 16 April, a British Sea Harrier was
shot down over Goražde by Bosnian Serb forces.
Around 29 April, a Danish contingent (Nordbat 2) on
peacekeeping duty in Bosnia, as part of UNPROFOR's
Nordic battalion located in Tuzla, was ambushed when
trying to relieve a Swedish observation post (Tango
2) that was under heavy artillery fire by the
Bosnian Serb Šekovići brigade at the village of
Kalesija, but the ambush was dispersed when the UN
forces retaliated with heavy fire in what would be
known as Operation Břllebank.

On 5 August 1994, at the request of UNPROFOR, two
U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts located and strafed a Bosnian
Serb anti-tank vehicle near Sarajevo after the Serbs
tested NATO's resolve by seizing weapons that had
been impounded by UN troops and attacking a UN
helicopter. Afterwards, the Serbs agreed to return
the remaining heavy weapons. On 22 September 1994,
NATO aircraft carried out an air strike against a
Bosnian Serb tank at the request of UNPROFOR.

On 25 and 26 May 1995, after violations of the
exclusion zones and the shelling of safe areas, NATO
aircraft carried out air strikes against Bosnian
Serb ammunition depots in Pale. Some 370 UN
peacekeepers in Bosnia were taken hostage and
subsequently used as human shields at potential
targets in a successful bid to prevent further air
strikes.

On 2 June 1995, two U.S. Air Force F-16 jets were
sent on patrol over Bosnia in support of Operation
Deny Flight. While on patrol, an F-16 piloted by
Captain Scott O'Grady was shot down by a Bosnian
Serb SA-6 surface-to-air missile. O'Grady was forced
to eject from the aircraft. Six days later, he was
rescued by U.S. Marines of the 24th Marine
Expeditionary Unit based on the USS Kearsarge. The
event would come to be known as the Mrkonjić Grad
incident.

On 11 July 1995, NATO aircraft attacked targets in
the Srebrenica area of Bosnia-Herzegovina as
identified by and under the control of the United
Nations. This was in response to Bosnian Serb forces
advancing on the UN-declared Safe Area of
Srebrenica. Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladić
threatened to kill 50 UN peacekeepers who were
seized as hostages and also threatened to shell the
Muslim population in Srebrenica if NATO air strikes
continued. The UN peacekeepers called off the air
strikes and agreed to withdraw from Srebrenica as
the Bosnian Serbs promised they would take care of
the Muslim population for the peacekeepers to spare
their own lives. For two weeks, the forces of
General Mladić slaughtered over 8,000 Bosniaks,
mainly men and boys, in the Srebrenica massacre in
what was the worst massacre in Europe since World
War II.

On 25 July, the North Atlantic Council authorized
military planning aimed at deterring an attack on
the safe area of Goražde, and threatened the use of
NATO air power if this safe area was threatened or
attacked. On 1 August, the Council took similar
decisions aimed at deterring attacks on the safe
areas of Sarajevo, Bihać and Tuzla. On 4 August,
NATO aircraft conducted air strikes against Croatian
Serb air defense radars near Udbina airfield and
Knin in Croatia. On 10 August, the Commanders of
Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) and
UNPROFOR concluded a memorandum of understanding on
the execution of airstrikes.

CAMPAIGN

On 30 August, the Secretary General of NATO
announced the start of airstrikes, supported by
UNPROFOR rapid reaction force artillery attacks.
Although planned and approved by the North Atlantic
Council in July 1995, the operation was triggered in
direct response to the second wave of Markale
massacres on 28 August 1995.

During the campaign, a total of 3515 sorties were
flown against 338 individual targets. The aircraft
involved in the campaign operated from Aviano Air
Base, Italy, and from the U.S. aircraft carriers USS
Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS America (CV-66)
in the Adriatic Sea. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of
the ordnance used in this campaign were
precision-guided munitions. The VRS integrated air
defense network, comprising aircraft and
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), presented a
high-threat environment to NATO air operations.

The German Luftwaffe saw action for first time since
1945 during Operation Deliberate Force. Six
interdictor-strike (IDS) version Tornados, equipped
with infrared recce devices and escorted by 8 ECR
Tornados, pinpointed Serb targets for NATO's
artillery units around Sarajevo. The artillery group
was part of a Rapid Reaction Force deployed on Mount
Igman to support the task of NATO's aircraft by
pounding Serb artillery positions. The Force was
commanded by British Lieutenant General Dick
Applegate. On 30 August 1995, a French Mirage 2000
was shot down by a Bosnian Serb shoulder-fired SAM
near Pale.

On 1 September 1995, NATO and UN demanded the
lifting of the Serb's Siege of Sarajevo, removal of
heavy weapons from the heavy weapons exclusion zone
around Sarajevo, and complete security of other UN
safe areas. NATO stopped the air raids and gave an
ultimatum to Bosnian Serb leaders. The deadline was
set as 4 September.

On 5 September 1995, NATO resumed air attacks on
Bosnian Serb positions around Sarajevo and near the
Bosnian Serb headquarters at Pale after the Bosnian
Serbs failed to comply with UN demands to lift heavy
weapons around Sarajevo.

On the night of 10 September 1995, the Ticonderoga
class cruiser USS Normandy launched a Tomahawk
missile strike from the central Adriatic Sea against
a key air defense radio relay tower at Lisina, near
Banja Luka, while U.S. Air Force F-15E and U.S. Navy
F/A-18 fighter-bombers hit the same targets with
about a dozen precision-guided bombs, and F-16 jets
attacked with Maverick missiles.

On 14 September 1995, NATO air strikes were
suspended to allow the implementation of an
agreement with Bosnian Serbs, to include the
withdrawal of heavy weapons from the Sarajevo
exclusion zone. The initial 72 hour suspension was
eventually extended to 114 hours.

Finally on 20 September 1995, General Bernard
Janvier (Commander, UNPF) and Admiral Leighton W.
Smith, Jr. (CINCSOUTH) agreed that resumption of air
strikes of Operation Deliberate Force was not
necessary as Bosnian Serbs had complied with the
conditions set out by the UN and as a result the
operation was terminated.

The air campaign was key to pressure on Milošević’s
Yugoslavia to take part in negotiations that
resulted in the Dayton Peace Agreement reached in
November 1995.

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